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PROS: This is a toy – plain and simple. It’s meant to cater to the young collector while offering a signature in-universe vehicle at an attractive pricepoint for parents and kids with an allowance. Slave I holds one figure/pilot well (Hasbro even took into consideration Jango’s jetpack when designing the cockpit) and the deco, while minimal is accurate in terms of color. It features manually pivoting wings (just like the super-sized “collector” version), cannons and a launching missile/projectile. I can totally appreciate what Hasbro has attempted here and it easily meets their goal of being a ship scaled down for smaller hands while maintaining the fun of a larger collector-target product. If Hasbro can produce this type of product to pave the way for more collector-targeted releases, then I’m all for it.

CONS: If you’re a stickler for accurate scale, realistic deco or a moderate number of features, there is obviously nothing for you here.

Head to the toyguide for the full image gallery and to judge for yourself whether this set is worth adding to your collection.

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Jayson – I know you know this, but we were kids and not collectors in the 80s. I don’t understand how a Micro Machines quality plastic toy gets considered for release and denoted as “kid focused” when the larger sizes were made for kids back in the golden era. Our Slave I was “massive” for its time (the 80s version) with a ton of play features and a (gasp!) frozen Han Solo in carbonite. We didn’t need a smaller scale and less play features to cater to our little hands. There was no reason to create all-new tooling and waste it on this. But that’s probably more emotion than anything else coming out.

YAK_Jayson

I see your point, but we also have 30+ years of collecting meta knowledge that influences our thinking when it comes to toys & collectibles. I think we need to look at toys for what they are sometimes and who they are geared toward. These Class II vehicles were “sold to us” at CVI as being kid targeted – and I think they succeeded in that respect. They didn’t try to sell us a premium “collector-quality” item with an accompanying premium price tag.

http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/ paul@jeditemplearchives.com

I still don’t think that “kid focused” needs to be “removed of any play value and size” either. Who the heck was the Clone Turbo Tank and AT-TE designed for? Answer: kids. They were huge and had a ton of play value. Who are Star Wars transformers designed for? Not collectors! Now all of a sudden they need to make Transformer sized ships without all the play value and bare essential functionality? I can’t swallow that. At all.

Rykrof_Enloe

Most people it seems think that Hasbro made a mistake in going down this road. I tend to agree with that sentiment, but do see the benefit of $20 vehicles. I think however it’s going to backfire overall.

Basically, Hasbro had a knee-jerk reaction with how the early 2012 mid-size vehicles bombed. It wasn’t the price so much as it was the fact that ALL the vehicles that were released were ones that we collectors (and most kids) already had. Podracers from 1999 again? Really?

So you can still find that stuff at stores, and Hasbro reads it as the prices were too expensive. Jumping into the $30 price range stings, but not so much when it’s an all new item. But we saw none of that in 2012 that actually hit retail.

Hasbro also drove the line into the ground in 2011 with Jedi Starfighters over and over again. That’s so BORING. And they sat because most of the market for this stuff already had them… so what’s Hasbro doing in 2013? Making MORE damn Jedi Starfighters in the $20 range… but it’s not the price here, it’s the fact that we already have these things.

Where’s the innovation? Where’s the variety? What the heck happened to Hasbro these past few years? I don’t get it either.

Now, I do like the $20 Republic Tank, but the Slave One and Jedi Starfighters are hideous… back to the drawing board, Hasbro…

http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/ paul@jeditemplearchives.com

Your assertion that you like the Republic Fighter Tank perplexes me. We have a darned fine one with actual rolling wheels. Why would you want the embarrassment that is this vehicle?

YAK_Jayson

I think that the Tank suffers the least amount in terms of scale. It still have various firing weapons, opening hatch, a cockpit for 2 figures plus footpegs to hold extra troopers on the hull. I agree though that the underside is a HUGE negative.

Rykrof_Enloe

I like the tank, but not as much as the “regular scaled” one. This one is still nice for what it is in my opinion. Part of that is because I can see a military having a downsized version of the regular tank for support missions, etc.